| Cynipini | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cynips sp. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Cynipidae |
| Subfamily: | Cynipinae |
| Tribe: | Cynipini Leach, 1815 |
| Diversity | |
| around 680 species [1] | |
Cynipini is a tribe of gall wasps. These insects induce galls in plants of the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. [2] They are known commonly as the oak gall wasps. [3] It is the largest cynipid tribe, with about 936 [4] to 1000 [3] recognized species, most of which are associated with oaks. [3] The tribe is mainly native to the Holarctic. [4]
Cynipini wasps can act as ecosystem engineers. Their galls can become hosts of inquilines, and the wasps themselves are hosts to parasitoids. [5]
Most of these wasps undergo cyclical parthenogenesis, sometimes reproducing sexually, and sometimes producing young without fertilization. [3] [6]
